How to Make a Conference Engaging as a Leader: A Businessman's Perspective

The success of a conference depends on how engaging it is to the attendees. However, this is rarely the case since conferences can be information-heavy and can become boring fast. Generally, they are more about active listening than active participation. 

Hence, as a leader who is hosting the conference, you need to make sure your attendees actively engage with the conference. In this article, you will learn how to make a conference engaging as a leader. Apart from that, this article will also explain why a conference needs to be engaging in the first place. 

Therefore, to learn more, read on to the end of the article. 

Why Do Conferences Need to Be Engaging? 

As a leader, when you are conducting a conference to deliver information to your team, you always expect your team to be attentive. However, this is seldom the case. Rather, you see that the people around the conference table are becoming bored and drowsy. 

This happens when the speaker fails to engage the listeners. Although the conference can be heavily informational, leaders need to know that they need to strike a balance as well.  

Basically, the conferences that become successful always consider the attendee’s experiences. Also, they take steps to optimize those experiences. For instance, as a leader, you have to discover creative ways to ensure your attendee’s involvement.  

Also, during executive coaching, coaches develop leaders to be more creative and inclusive in their approach. 

To learn about how to make your conference as a leader, check out the next section. 

How to Make Conferences Engaging as a Leader? 

The following are the steps you need to follow if you want to make your conferences engaging as a leader: 

1. Pre-Questions 

Before starting a panel discussion, engage your participants by allowing them to work as teams. For instance, you can allow them to decide the most important questions they want answers to. Then, you can collect those questions during panel introductions. 

Basically, such exercises help to energize the participants in the conference. Also, this way, you can let the panelists know early that you are going to discuss topics that the participants have an interest in. 

2. Define the Outcomes 

At the start of the conference, define the outcomes you desire from it. Think about what you want the participants to walk away with. For instance, to properly define the outcomes, consider the three Hs: 

Hands: After you end the conference, determine what you want them to have in their hands. Basically, it is what you want your team to walk away with. 

Heads: Next, you have to consider what you want your team to have in their heads. This must be a new knowledge that they did not have before. 

Hearts: What do you want your team to have in their hearts? – For example, it can be a goal, a passion, or a belief to achieve something new, or anything else. 

3. Conduct Team Q&A 

After you complete a presentation, do not ask questions upfront. Rather, give the audience a minute to identify the question that was important in the presentation. After that, you can rotate from team to team to ask what each team has questions regarding the presentation. 

4. Standing Polls 

One effective way to make a conference engaging is to use standing polls as a speaker. Here, you can ask a close-ended question or make a strong statement. Do this during the presentation and relevant periods. In this case, with each statement/question, ensure people engage with the question whether they agree or not with the solution. 

5. Flip Chart Rotation 

Ask the participants in the conference to rotate with flip charts. Here, every flip chart needs to have a question that the leadership needs to address. 

6. Allow Identification of Best Practices 

Here, you need to set up the issue at hand. Apart from that, allow the participants in the conference to work in teams. Thereby, you can allow them to identify best practices with the help of which everyone can address the issue. 

Additionally, make sure all participants use different methods to identify the highest priority problems. Thereby, everyone can find solutions or strategies to deal with these problems. 

Wrapping Up 

There are many ways to make a conference engaging. In fact, as a leader, it is your responsibility that your team does not find the conference boring. The conference must act as an event from where your team will feel recharged to achieve the team’s goals. 

Do you have more suggestions on how to make a conference engaging? Please share your ideas and opinions in the comments section below.